According to a recent Dept of Finance and Deregulation publication few people are unreservedly enthusiastic about the Rudd Government idea that citizens could engage with it through an Australian Government consultation blog.
Most appear to have thought that the concept was O.K., but only those already engaged with politics and/or blogging were likely to use such a site.
There was little interest amongst focus group (as opposed to online survey) participants in actually reading comments made by others on such a blog/discussion forum.
Unsurprisingly no-one seemed to want Federal Labor's 'grand idea' to replace the traditional forms of community consultation.
Generally the public consultation indicated support for the development of a government online consultation web space that includes blogs, online discussion forums and details of public consultations.
The findings suggested ways that the Government could encourage the public’s participation in online consultations.
Respondents said they would be more likely to participate in government consultations if:
• the discussion topic were relevant to their personal circumstances;
• they had the opportunity to nominate the topics for discussion;
• discussion forums included the participation of Government officials;
• a range of registration options were available;
• the site was well designed, easy to find and use;
• participants were free to express their opinion without censorship; and
• it were unbiased in its operation..........
While many respondents expressed their cynicism about Government actually participating in the discussion, some respondents were optimistic and believed that Government officials would take the website and its discussion forums seriously.
• the discussion topic were relevant to their personal circumstances;
• they had the opportunity to nominate the topics for discussion;
• discussion forums included the participation of Government officials;
• a range of registration options were available;
• the site was well designed, easy to find and use;
• participants were free to express their opinion without censorship; and
• it were unbiased in its operation..........
While many respondents expressed their cynicism about Government actually participating in the discussion, some respondents were optimistic and believed that Government officials would take the website and its discussion forums seriously.
In the same vein, there were clear expectations that an online consultation forum should focus on generating solutions to problems rather than rehashing political debates.
In other word, it's all pie in the sky. Because no government could resist political manipulation of such a blog.
For starters (if the Dept of F&D paper is any indication) it will require a higher level of information for registration and comment will be moderated.
How well I remember the quick censorship that members of the Howard Government put in place when FaceBook and YouTube political candidate sites suddenly became uncomfortable places for their egos during the 2007 federal election campaign.
